■SPAIN
Nadal attire draws comment
Rafael Nadal has abandoned his trademark sleeveless tops and capri pants for T-shirts and above-the-knee shorts at this year’s Australian Open. Not everyone likes it. Sports bloggers and fan forums have been puzzled by his new attire, with at least one female blogger complaining that she missed seeing his sculpted biceps. Nadal shrugged off the interest. “For sure, when you have a change, some people like, other people don’t like,” Nadal said. “For sure with the sleeveless, not everybody like the sleeveless. Right now gonna be the same, no? I feel good like this,” he said. “Important thing in the end is not the clothes; is the ball and racket and play well.”
■FRANCE
Fan goes too far
Sebastien de Chaunac appreciated his vocal fans during his second-round match on Thursday — all but one. The Frenchman was serving to American James Blake at the beginning of the third set when a man courtside began to encourage him. De Chaunac asked the chair umpire to intervene. Later, during a big rally, the man started again. “It was a pretty big point, it was probably my last chance to break James ... and the guy was talking to me before every hit, saying, ‘Come on, come on, yeah, yeah, allez,”’ de Chaunac said. “I could have won the point, but I lost it.” De Chaunac approached the man and spoke to him: “I just told him in a bad way in French to shut up.” The man apologized but later in the match was escorted out when he continued to talk during points. De Chaunac lost to Blake 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. “I don’t know if he was doing it on purpose or he didn’t realize,” de Chaunac said. “He looked so happy to be there, maybe more happy than I was. It was kind of an awkward situation. You want to keep him on your side, but on the other hand, he’s too loud.”
■UNITED STATES
Serena recalls best win
Asked for her greatest win ever, Serena Williams nominated a triumph over Andy Roddick, when she about 11. “There’s an argument about the score,” the second-seeded Williams, winner of nine Grand Slam singles titles, said. “I think I beat him like 6-1. He says it was 6-4. He always says he’s ready for a rematch, but there’s no need for a rematch.” She said Roddick, winner of the US Open in 2003 and seeded seventh in the men’s draw here, will “hate me for saying that!” Williams said her victory came in a practice match in Florida when they were both much younger but noted that “age doesn’t matter.” And she had other “unofficial” wins, she said. “Indirectly, you know, I’ve beaten a lot of people on the men’s tour,” she laughed. “Indirectly I have wins over [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal. Just so exciting.”
■CZECH REPUBLIC
‘Bad girl’ Vaidisova fined
Nicole Vaidisova became the first woman to be fined at this year’s Australian Open yesterday, joining 18 men penalized for bad behavior at the season’s first grand slam. The Czech received a US$2,000 penalty from the International Tennis Federation for failing to appear at a news conference after her 6-2, 6-1 first round loss to Severine Bremond of France. The former world No. 7 has slipped down the rankings after a poor run last year and is now outside the top 50. Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov has copped the heftiest dent to his wallet in the first five days, being fined US$500 for racket abuse and another US$2,500 for verbal abuse. Both fines stemmed from the 29th seed’s first round loss to Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
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